Friday, February 16, 2007

Talibanization a threat to Afghanistan

In September of last year, Pakistan’s government signed a peace agreement which prohibited military raids in the northern regions. However, it seems that since the agreement there has been an enormous increase in attacks along the Afghan-Pakistan border. Subsequently, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Karl W. Eikenberry is insisting that Pakistan tighten its control over the Taliban and al-Qaeda networks, The Washington Post, reported on Wednesday.

Recently there have been massive attacks on U.S. border camps in the region, and there is fear of even larger attacks in the spring, as Eikenberry believes that members of the Taliban and al-Qaeda are working together; training and rigorously recruiting new members.

Recently, the U.S. pledged to send additional troops to Afghanistan. However, this is only to assist the NATO troops already in the area. With the assistance of the additional troops, NATO is expected redirect its troops in order to weaken the Taliban. While, the U.S. intends to keep the number of American troops in the area to a minimum.

According to the general, increased fighting will successively weaken Afghan support for President Hamid Karzai. “The long-term threat to campaign success…is the potential irretrievable loss of legitimacy of the government of Afghanistan,” Eikenberry said. His plea is a time-sensitive one; the fighting could escalate to a point in which there will be no foreseeable successful future for Afghanistan.